Antrim Senior camogie championship Round 2
Dunloy 4-18 Cushendall 2-7
WITH Dunloy ahead at the break by 2-15 to 1-2, it seemed that this second round senior championship tie would roll on to its inevitable conclusion without much ado.
However a red card for Chloe Drain 14 minutes into the second half became more than a talking point with Dunloy set to face Loughgiel, the only other unbeaten team after two rounds of the championship, next Saturday in their third match. The experienced Drain now looks set to miss that game.
This was a game that her side had in the bag at the break. They had posted 1-10 before Brogan Abram opened Cushendall’s account after 21 minutes with a point and added another 1-5 before the break.
Caitlin Crawford scored the first goal when she took a pass from Cassie McArthur and gave Sarah Kane no chance from close range. The second goal came from the lively and diminutive Eimear Johnston after 25 minutes when she cut in and slipped the ball to the net off the far post.
To their credit Cushendall finished the half strongly with a point from Siobhán McKillop and then a late goal when Ellen Leech forced the sliotar home from close range.
But overall they were being outplayed with the home side finishing good approach work with a flurry of fine points from McArthur, Aileen McManus, Nicole O’Neill, Katie Laverty and Caitlin Crawford.
Áine Magill entered the game as a half-time substitute and she added another goal for Dunloy while Nicole O’Neill popped over four second half points. Brogan Abram had dropped a free in just after Magill’s goal and it went all the way to the Dunloy net and she added a point from a free before the water break.
Siobhán McKillop began the last quarter with a Cushendall point. However Áine Magill burst through for her second goal and the Cúchulainn’s had claimed the victory, but a victory that may have come at a price.
Dunloy: M Martin, E McMullan, E Kearns, C Drain, K Molloy, D Elliott, K Laverty 0-2, A McManus 0-2, C Conlon, C Molloy, N O’Neill 0-8, 4 frees, E Elliot 0-1, C McArthur 0-3, C Crawford 1-2, E Johnston 1-1.
Subs: Á Magill 2-0 for C McArthur, S McIlhatton for C Molloy, Brónach Magill for A McManus.
Cushendall: S Kane, A Leech, A McClafferty, A McNeill, C Patterson, C McNaughton, A McDonnell, D Cosgrove, S McKillop 0-2, L McMullan 0-1, S Cosgrove, B Abram 1-4, 1-3 frees, M O’Boyle, E Leech 1-0, C McKillop.
Subs: N McQuillan for C McKillop (HT), A Delargy for A Leech.